EDITORIAL

So what’s the next chapter?

Posted 1/16/14

News that the first bookless library has officially opened and is successful really makes you stop and think about what is going to come next.

Most library professionals in the area said it was …

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EDITORIAL

So what’s the next chapter?

Posted

News that the first bookless library has officially opened and is successful really makes you stop and think about what is going to come next.

Most library professionals in the area said it was unlikely that all libraries would follow suit and get rid of their books, but who knows. Ten years ago, the idea that any library would not have books was impossible. When Amazon released their first Kindle in 2007, the e-reader takeover began. There was huge public backlash with many demanding that they would never use one; they loved the feel of holding a book and no electronic device could replace that. Fast-forward to 2014; tablets and e-readers are everywhere. Almost every electronics company makes one, and there are even special ones designed for kids.

Warwick Public Library director Diane Greenwald admitted that when she started her career 30 years ago she never would have imagined what we see today when we go in a public library. Who’s to say walking into a library to borrow an e-reader won’t be the way it works in 2024?

To that extent, what else could become all digital? One day, our kids could put their iPad and their lunch into a backpack and head to school. Textbooks will get stored in a closet and brought out in an “I remember when…” moment along with VCRs and record players.

While it may be funny to think about, it’s not impossible. It’s already happening; all middle school students at Rocky Hill School have iPads to use at home and at school with digital textbooks and other educational tools to help with coursework. The iPads are technically the property of the school, but it’s a start.

Because of online shopping, the Internet can be seen as an all-digital mall. The only advantage of actually going to a store is that you take the item home with you; if Amazon perfects their instant-delivery-by-drone idea, there goes that.

We can try to tell ourselves that a library without books or a school without textbooks is impossible, but with today’s technology and sense of imagination, it’s really true that nothing is impossible.

So what’s next?

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